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When it comes to eye catching, Trent Parcells, 2nd grade teacher, definitely stands out as one of the best. His flamboyant dressing style and haircuts make him stick out from the rest of the community. Throughout his whole life he’s been criticized and judged based on his intriguing look, and many questions have aroused around his sexuality, sanity, and ability to teach, but his strong personality and amiable way to treat others has made him become one of the most liked people in the community.

Parcells’ family showed their support at an early age, and this allowed him to express himself and develop his vigorous personality. Even though he has faced challenges and has had fingers pointed at him throughout his life, this has helped him develop a high self esteem and confidence. Now, as a teacher, he’s trying to send the same message to his students, that it’s okay to express yourself and take risks.

Childhood

As a kid, Parcells was massively influenced by his family. He developed a taste for fashion and experimenting with his looks. His mom and sister were both highly important during this process.

“I always say that I got my style from my mom. My mom was very colorful. She always had bright clothes that mismatched, maybe she would wear a bright orange hat, and green shoes, and blue pants. I think that was something that was always very open when I was a kid, I was always allowed to wear whatever I wanted,” Parcells said.

Parcells’ parents not only allowed him to dress whatever way he wanted, they supported him and were with him during the process. This was an aspect that a lot kids don’t have present during their childhood and that Parcells is very grateful of.

“My parents really let me dress however I wanted and they always supported me in that. When we’d go shopping whenever I wanted to pick they always supported, never tried to push any sort of specific way to look, or how to have a haircut. I dyed my hair when I was a kid a lot, my mom is actually the one that did that for me,” Parcells said.

Negative Comments

In various stages of his life and even in present day, Parcells has always and will always receive negative comments by other people. As a child, he was supported by a lot of people and this helped him get over the negative comments.

“A lot of people thought it was cool that I did that, and people who didn’t or made fun of me or I never really paid too much attention to them because it was what I liked and I wanted to do it… I think the big support from home and a lot of my really close friends supporting helped me so when I had that one in a person that would say something negative it didn’t really affect me too much,” Parcells said.

Parcells also acknowledges that if he’s going to be different, he has to accept the fact that people will make comments and point fingers at him even though they don’t really know him, they just judge him by his appearance.

“If I’m going to act different and dress differently I have to accept that people are going to look and maybe point but I haven’t had anybody really be mean to me in this city,” Parcells said.

The Teacher

Parcells tries to teach his students a skill that he has developed throughout his whole life. He was always supported and he wants for the students to feel the same. He teaches them that it’s okay to express yourself and to feel good about it even when receiving negative comments.

“I think he’s very unique. It’s refreshing to see somebody not only do his own thing but also teach other kids that it’s okay to be super creative, even as an adult,” Jeremy Gleason, 6th and 8th grade History teacher and Parcells’ friend, said.

A lot of teachers think it’s important for kids to learn these skills because at some point everyone will require them. Not only this but it helps people become more accepting about others if they’re different too.

“I think it’s important at any age to teach the kids to have self-confidence and identity. Also to be open minded to different things and still be able to be professional. I think that on the surface you can look at somebody like Trent and think he’s just a clown but he’s a good teacher and he really cares about his students,” Gleason said.

The Man

Trent Parcells dedicates his life to teach kids and prepare them for life outside of school, and he teaches his student many lessons much more valuable than any others. Acceptance and freedom of expression are some of them.

“I try to implement that with my kids in my class as well as tell them that it’s okay be free with your expression if you like something. You like what you like and you don’t have to please anybody else,” Parcells said.